Sam Presti Screwed Up

[El Kabong]

Was there any scenario where Harden would have stayed long term?

What would OKC have needed to do? (I know we could have kept him for this year, then basically lost him for nothing)


Didn't he have a pretty darn good offer, but turned it down for a max?

I had heard he wanted $5-$10 million more on the deal to bring it in line with what some other players had gotten on their extensions at the time and management told him they weren't budging on their initial offer and it was take it or leave it.

[flipogb]

at the end of the day, they couldn't beat the Heat WITH Harden and they certainly can't beat them without Harden. and yes he did play bad but I don't expect Martin to play better

I mean its not like they got other new good players, they even just tossed Maynor who the fans said was gonna improve and handle the ball more this year

[flipogb]

No, it's something that's been building for about a month now and I think most OKC fans would agree. Outside of that stretch where we beat the Clippers, Celtics, Knicks, and Lakers, OKC has looked very underwhelming against other playoff teams lately; and even 3 of those 4 teams (Knicks, Celtics, Lakers) aren't on the same level of Denver, Memphis, San Antonio, and Miami.

I'm holding out hope that Durant will breakout of this slump. Maybe he's just bored and ready for the playoffs? I don't know, but whatever it is, it's got to change. It's no coincidence that his awful play (by his standards) over the last month or so is coinciding with a time a lot of OKC fans are starting to doubt their chances of making another run to the Finals. A lot of OKC's problems can be solved with Durant getting back to being Durant and not this little p***y turnover machine who, on about 95% of his drives, half-heartedly goes into the lane and just waits or expects a foul to be called.

peaked early perhaps, Ive noticed all season that OKC was a team looking to far ahead towards the finals instead of taking it one game at a time. the technicals by Durant and Westbrook's crying proves that.

[rmt]

Since acquiring a scoring big man is unlikely because of financial restraints, they should send Ibaka to Hakeem for the whole summer for a few years. Have him watch lots of video of McHale and Duncan during the rest of the year. He's only 23 - still young enough to develop a post game. Their only chance to compete with the HEAT is to hit them with their only weakness. Of course, even that has a time limit since soon every veteran big man will want to jump on the HEAT bandwagon to get a ring.

[9512]

Since people are saying it was a money issue (luxury tax) for trading away Harden, then the OKC ownership deserves some of the blame. They are the one paying salaries and told Presti to trade him.

Presti can only have so much impact as the NBA is a business and he's not the ones forking over the dough.

[Blue&Orange]

The trade has been discussed over 1000000000000 times here on ish... get over it.




Jeff Green for Kendrick Perkins initially was a steal for OKC because GREEN WAS OUT FOR AN ENTIRE SEASON, and was on the verge of ending his career because of the heart. It really pisses me when people just comment on stuff they don't know about.

My question is how retarded does a person have to be to actually believe in this.

[Shepseskaf]

This is stupid. How many times is this same thread going to be recycled?

Presti did exactly what should have been done. You don't tie up so much money in four players, no matter what. If re-signing Harden guaranteed a 'chip, that would be one thing, but his disappearance in the Finals was a major factor in the loss.

Add that to the fact that Harden would not have developed to the level he's at right now while playing alongside KD and Westbrook.

[Clifton]

It's more than 8 million with luxury tax

I don't believe in the luxury tax.

Besides, does this mean that, minus that 8 mil (over four years), the luxury tax is no longer an issue? It just disappears? And there's no other possible way they could have saved that 2 mil a year for four years? Again, Presti offered Harden a contract that was worth 8 mil less than the one he wanted. Presti didn't want to deal with it so he traded Harden, a top ten player in the NBA at age 23, for a role player. If you're willing to give a guy 50 mil why not 60?

[DMAVS41]

This is stupid. How many times is this same thread going to be recycled?

Presti did exactly what should have been done. You don't tie up so much money in four players, no matter what. If re-signing Harden guaranteed a 'chip, that would be one thing, but his disappearance in the Finals was a major factor in the loss.

Add that to the fact that Harden would not have developed to the level he's at right now while playing alongside KD and Westbrook.

This. Forget the financial side of it completely. Even in just basketball terms I'm not sure it was a bad move. It is the law of diminishing returns. There simply aren't enough minutes for 3 perimeter oriented ball dominant players to play at an optimal level. Westbrook is going to play something like 42 minutes a game in the playoffs. That is only 6 minutes a game in which he wouldn't be on the floor. So while the Thunder are better with Harden...it's not so much so that they can't win without him. Hell, they didn't win with him...and Harden was the biggest reason for that.

You keep Harden and there is an endless debate about Harden vs Westbrook and people creating locker room issues. It was unhealthy for Westbrook and unfair to Harden to cap his impact with a 6th man role.

The Thunder will ultimately be better spending that money on more of their needs...and in the interim, Martin has been great and filled in very nicely.

And have we all forgotten that it really took Ibaka and Perkins going nuts in game 5 against the Spurs for them to win that series. It's not like the Thunder were going to run away with West or easily win the title. The Heat are still looming and the Spurs still a threat.

If people want to say they should have kept Harden over Westbrook...I can see that side. Especially because Westbrook would have yielded a much better return for a trade. But one of them had to go.

[Teanett]

westbrook
harden
green
durant
ibaka

dynasty!

[bagelred]

It's kind of hilarious to say "Sam Presti screwed up" when obviously it wasn't his decision right? You realize it's not Presti's money to spend right?

Sam Presti's doing juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust fine.

[pegasus]

at the end of the day, they couldn't beat the Heat WITH Harden and they certainly can't beat them without Harden. and yes he did play bad but I don't expect Martin to play better

I mean its not like they got other new good players, they even just tossed Maynor who the fans said was gonna improve and handle the ball more this year

Harden was absolute garbage against the Heat, except for in game 2 which they lost anyway. He missed free throws, fast break lay ups, wide open 3's, and sucked on defense. And Ibaka struggled big time on both ends of the floor, and the refs made terrible "mistakes" at the end of game 2, 3, and 4 in favor of Miami.

Now with Martin, who should be able to play better than Harden did, and an improved Ibaka (although I'm still not sold on him yet), and with RW and KD doing their things, I could see the OKC beating the Heat. The problem is Miami has gotten stronger, and I don't think Stern will stop at gifting Lebron just one ring.

[miggyme1]

LMAO at you bums who put too much stock into a regular season game. i LOVE the nuggets but no way in hell they the second best team in the west. its still


1.spurs
2.thunder
3.grizz
4.nuggets/clipps

nobody and i mean nobody is gonna beat the thunder in 5 or less games.....thus meaning....u lookin at a game 6 or 7.........and one of those will be at their house.....assumin they the better seed..itll be game 7.......and they are a pretty good road team. i heard chandler separated his shoulder also so they could be bad news.

every team is intitled to have a off night. didnt the heat lose to the wizards this year?....didnt the kings almost end their streak a few weeks ago???...in south beach???smh


stop over-rating these regular season games please.

[iamgine]

Martin's contract is $12 million and expiring. Perkins contract is $8 Million.

If OKC amnesty Perkins and doesn't resign Martin next season, does that mean they have the cap for another max or near max contract?

[Carbine]

Martin's contract is $12 million and expiring. Perkins contract is $8 Million.

If OKC amnesty Perkins and doesn't resign Martin next season, does that mean they have the cap for another max or near max contract?

Durant - 18.8
Westbrook - 14.7
Sefolosha - 3.9
Collison - 2.6
Ibaka - 12.2
Lamb, Jackson, Jones, Thabeet - 5.4

Total money on contracts next year = 57.6 million

Salary cap this year was 58 mil, with no expected raise in the salary cap for nect year....the Thunder would basically be right at the salary cap.